Cat Revisits Mona Patterson
by RexPlanner
Summary: Cat's candle is blamed for the fire at Mona Patterson's house and Cat feels badly that she caused it. She goes back to talk to Mona, and finds out what really happened.
1. Chapter 1

Tori was running through the halls at Hollywood Arts.

Tori: Cat, Cat where are you?

She runs up to a group of students standing near a locker: Have any of you seen Cat?

Everyone shakes their head no,

Finally on a hunch; Tori ran to the Black Box Theater. Sure enough, Cat is sitting there.

Tori: Cat, I have been looking all over for you.

Cat: Hi, I am here.

Tori: I see that, what are you doing here?

Cat: I was just thinking..

Tori: Thinking about what?

Cat: Thinking about poor Mona Patterson's house burning down.

Tori: Cat, you can't blame yourself for that!

Cat: But the guy on TV said that my candle caused it!

Tori: But that is so unrealistic, you had a little candle on a concrete sidewalk outside, there was no way it could have started that fire.

Cat: But the reporter said…

Tori: Cat I am telling you, where you put that candle there was nothing around it to burn. Maybe Mona Patterson brought it inside the house and put it near something and that caught fire.

Cat: Do you think so?

Tori: I am sure of it, and I bet if you ask Mona Patterson she would tell you so.

Cat: Can we?

Tori: Can we what?

Cat: Can we go talk to Mona Patterson and find out what really happened?

Tori: You mean go to the hospital and talk to her?

Cat: Yes, it's the only way I will be able to feel better.

Tori: We will have to get a ride; I still did not get my license. Maybe Trina will drive us.

Tori and Cat ran off to find Trina:

It was so close to lunch time that they just went out to the Asphalt Café and waited. Trina soon showed up at the grub truck to buy her lunch.

Tori: Hey Trina, can you do Cat and I a favor?

Trina: Cat, the last time I saw Cat she and Robbie were singing to me that my date was standing me up.

Tori: Come on Trina, that wasn't Cat's fault.

Trina: Hmm I suppose, what is the favor?

Tori: Can you drive us down to San Diego Hospital to see Mona Patterson?

Trina: That actress whose house you burned down?

Cat: oh…..

Tori: Trina, I have been trying to explain to Cat that there is no way she could have caused that fire. Where she put the candle, there was nothing that could burn.

Trina: All right, I will take you down there; but, you are going to owe me a huge favor.

Tori: Yeah, yeah, what else is new?

After school, Tori called her mom and told her they would be home late and where they were going. They then got into Trina's car and started the long drive to San Diego.

Tori: Well at least the weather is better this time than the last time we were making this trip.

Trina: Yeah, whatever possessed you guys to drive there in a convertible with the top down?

Tori: Well it wasn't raining when we started out, then we couldn't get off the highway for a while and then we found out that the top was missing.

Cat: Don't forget the clown.

Tori: (Shudders at the memory) I really was trying to forget that part Cat; thank you for bringing it up again.

Cat: You're welcome?

Trina: What clown?

Tori: When we pulled over in a gas station to try to put the top up there was this skanky clown there who wanted a ride.

Trina: Did you give him one?

Tori: No way, he was not only skanky but I think he was drunk or high. We got out of there as soon as we could.

Trina: Probably a good idea.

Trina: How much further is this hospital?

Tori: According to the GPS we go up another three blocks and then turn left and it should be right there.

A few minutes later…

Cat: Oh look, there it is!

Trina: Great, just let me find a place to park and we can go in.

Trina parked the car and the girls walked in to the information desk.

Hello, may I help you? said the woman behind the desk.

Cat: We came to visit Mona Patterson

Desk Lady: Mona Patterson, let's see, ok she is in room C-310, the elevators are right behind you.

Cat: Thank you!

The girls got into the elevator and travelled up to the third floor.

Tori: There it is, C-310 where that man is standing.

They walked over to the room.

Cat: Excuse me sir, is this Mona Patterson's room.

Man: Yes it is, I am her son, and who are you?

Cat: My name is Cat and these are my friends Tori and Trina. I am a big fan of Mrs. Patterson.

Man: Wait a minute, Cat with red fur; you are the girl that burned down my mother's house! You have a lot of nerve coming back here, I should call the police!

Tori: That is why we came back, to find out what really happened, there is no way our candle could have caused that fire, it was outside on the concrete steps. Please, just let us go talk to her; I know we can find out what really happened.

Man: All right go ahead, but if mom says that you caused the fire, I will have the police here in a minute.

Cat: Thank you

The girls walk into the room and Cat walks up near the head of the bed.

Cat: Mrs. Patterson?

Mona Patterson's eyes were closed, but on hearing Cat's voice they fluttered open.

Cat: Hi! Do you remember me?

Mona: You are the girl who thought I was dead. You brought me a candle and I chased you off.

Cat: You remembered!

Mona: I remembered, then after you left my house burned down.

Tori: That is why we came back to visit. The press said that the candle we brought was the cause of the fire, but when we left it was outside; there was no way that it could have caused the fire.

Mona: Sit down girls

The three girls sat down, around the bed.

Mona: You girls are so young and pretty. I was young once, and people thought I was pretty. I have been in show business for many years. I was in old musicals like State Fair, when I was very young and then I did movies, television, I had it all, a wonderful husband, a great son…..

Mona (Continuing): Well as time went on my son grew and became a successful lawyer, he is the man outside the door right now. My husband just passed away five years ago.

Tori: Oh, we are so sorry…

Mona: Thank you, dear. My husband was everything to me, my husband, lover, best friend, and even my manager. He took care of all of the details, and I just had to look pretty and act. For years that was the arrangement and it worked well. That all changed when he died. I found that I was having a hard time trying to cope with little things, like bills, taxes, buying groceries, things like that. My son finally took me to the doctor and they decided that I was in the beginning stages of Alzheimer's disease.

Cat: What's Alzheimer's disease?

Tori: Cat it's a disease that makes you start to lose your memory; you can do something now, and in five minutes forget that you did it.

Mona: That about sums it up. Soon my memory became worse and I was forgetting many more things. I wanted to stay in the home that my husband and I made for each other, but it was becoming harder and harder to cope. My son had his own life and family, he couldn't spend all of his time with me, and so he started talking to me about going into a home where people could take care of me.

Mona: (paused, and closed her eyes, when she opened them again there were tears forming): I loved my home; each room had memories of my son and my husband and my life. I did not want to leave, ever. My son and I talked about it and we finally decided that if I got much worse, I would have no choice. I would have to go, and all of my memories would be lost.

Cat reached out and held Mona's hand. All of the girls were beginning to shed tears at this point.

Mona: The night you girls came to visit, there was so much excitement after the fire I could not remember what happened... I vaguely remembered your name, Cat and your red hair and the candle that you gave me. I could not remember all of the details, but it seemed like the candle was the source of the fire, and I remembered you girls, and that is how the press got the story.

Tori: But, the candle was outside, there was no way it could have started the fire.

Mona: That is where the memory failed again. I now remember that when you girls left, you left the candle on my front step. I looked at the candle and it was such a pretty thing, that I took it and brought it into the house and put it in the window, as it turned out, a bit too close to the curtains. I just remembered that a few days ago, but the press already had their story and were not interested in a retraction. I told the police what happened, but I was afraid to tell my son, because I knew that would be the last straw, that would put me in a home. Well it looks like I am going there anyway, since my house and all its memories are now gone.

Mona's eyes closed again, the strain of talking all this time had been too much for her and she went back to sleep. Cat bent over and kissed her on the forehead.

Cat: Goodbye Mrs. Patterson, get some rest.

The girls composed themselves and walked out into the hallway. Mona's son was standing there, and it was obvious that he had been crying too.

Mona's son: I just want to thank you girls for coming to see mom, I think it really meant a lot to her.

Cat: She meant a lot to me, she was my favorite actress.

Mona's Son: I just wanted to let you know, that I heard everything mom said to you, and I am not going to put her in a home. I have a very large house and will move her into it once she can leave her, and I will get her the best stay at home care so she never has to leave. We have some of her memorabilia in the attic. I am going to bring it down and put it around her room in my house and make her feel at home

Tori: I am sure that will mean a lot to her.

Mona's son took out a piece of paper and wrote down his address and telephone number and gave it to Cat.

Mona's son: When she gets settled in, you are welcome to come and visit her; I know she would like that.

Cat: took the paper and gave him a quick hug: Thank you, I will do that.

The girls turned and walked to the elevator. The ride down to the car and the ride home were made in silence. Each of the girls was lost in thought about the day's events.

Mona Patterson had lost her house, but she was going to get her son back, and she made a few new friends too.


	2. Chapter 2

Having a new principal at Hollywood Arts tends to make one expect certain changes, Helen, the schools new principal, had her last job as manager of a movie theatre and as a result was a big fan of productions on the silvers screen. Helen, did have her artistic side, though, and a great appreciation for the classics, in music, literature and in film

As a result, one of the new projects that she was instituting was an annual look back to the past, where the students of Hollywood Arts would put on a production of some of the great shows of days gone by.

This year, Helen had chosen to start things off with a production of the musical _Oklahoma! _The musical was very large in cast and scenery but she was confident that her faculty and students could trim it down to a high school production without losing any of the grandeur.

It was a tall order, but eventually they came up with what they considered to be a manageable production. They were going to trim the cast down to essentially the main characters in the show, and work everything else around them.

The cast list was as follows:

Curly

Will

Laurey

Aunt Eller

Ali Hakim

Ado Annie

Gertie

Jud

Everyone at Hollywood Arts was excited about the production and it was expected that the competition would be fierce for the roles.

Cat would have liked to try out for one of the roles; but her time was very precious these days. During the week she had her schoolwork, but on the weekends she would go to San Diego. Cat's favorite actress of all time, Mona Patterson had been released from the hospital after her house fire and had moved in with her son. Mona had become taken with the little red head when Cat came to the hospital to visit her; and her son encouraged Cat to come down and spend time with his mom once she had moved into his home.

The two would have great fun together, talking about theater and movies and singing. Mona would reminisce about her days on stage and in the movies and Cat would sit at her feet with rapt attention as she spoke of days gone by.

As it turned out, Mona had a lot of time on her hands. After making a couple of episodes of _The Dead _she was informed that the show would not be picked up. Mona was not really surprised by that, she felt it was a bit of a stretch casting a 78 year old woman as the wife of a 40 year old man, but the producers had felt their chances were good.

Mona: So Cat, tell me are you performing in anything this year?

Cat: Well, the school is doing a production of Oklahoma! But with my schoolwork and things I really have no time to prepare for it.

Mona: But Cat, you have the weekends to work on it.

Cat: But then I would not be able to come and spend time with you, and that is more important.

Mona looked at the little red head and smiled. She had really started feeling very close to the girl, and the thought that Cat was willing to give up a chance to perform to spend time with her, almost brought tears to her eyes.

Mona: Cat, how about if I helped you prepare for the show while you were here?

Cat: You know about Oklahoma?

Mona smiled at the little girl and took her by the hand into the library. She dug around in her old boxes until she found two things that she wanted to show Cat. The first was a poster advertising the movie Oklahoma! From 1955, the second was an original cast recording from the same show.

Cat's eyes grew very wide and she looked at the poster.

Cat: Wow, you actually saw the movie way back then and kept all of this?

Mona: (Smiling, she had gotten used to Cat by now) Cat take a good look at the girl on the poster.

Cat did as she was told, and suddenly her eyes grew even bigger.

Cat: Mona that is a picture of you!

Mona: Yes, Cat, I portrayed Laurey in the film Oklahoma; and you can hear me singing the songs on the record here.

Cat was excited, and from then on she and Mona would work on the role of Laurey. Mona gave Cat all of the benefit of her experience and by the time the auditions were held at school, Cat had nailed the role of Laurey to almost everyone's surprise.

When the final cast list was posted, it read as follows:

Curly—Beck Oliver

Will—Robbie Shapiro

Laurey-Cat Valentine

Aunt Eller—Trina Vega

Ado Annie—Jade West

Gertie—Tori Vega

Ali Hakim—Andre Harris

Jud—Steven Alder

Once the show was cast, rehearsals and work started in earnest so Cat was unable to spend her weekends with Mona anymore, but the two of them managed to keep in touch via the telephone and Mona was thrilled to hear that her work with Cat had paid off.

The day was coming soon when all of the rehearsals and hard work would end and the show itself would begin. On the day before opening night, Cat was able to make a call to Mona, telling her about the show's opening. Mona surprised Cat by telling her that she was going make a special trip to come to Hollywood Arts and be there to support her protégée.

Opening night was the typical hectic affair, with everyone running around attending to last minute details, verifying lighting and sound cues, getting everyone in costume, and adjusting and repairing the costumes.

Everything was finally in place, the house lights went down and spotlights bathed the curtains as the orchestra began the Overture.

Backstage was controlled madness as the tech crew prepared for their many set changes, and everyone's adrenaline was flowing.

Cat was a nervous as anyone, and she kept trying to peek out of the curtain to see if Mrs. Patterson had made it to the show.

Beck Oliver as Curly now strode out onto the stage, delivering his rendition of _Oh What a Beautiful_ _Morning_. Cat was counting the minutes, because her first appearance in the show was at the end of Beck's song with her doing the chorus part and then starting to speak.

Cat's entrance was flawless and for the next ninety minutes of so the audience was treated to an absolutely fantastic show with all of the students giving their all. With a talented cast such as this, almost every performance was a highlight, but one of the funniest performances was given by Jade West as Ado Annie, belting out her version of I'm _Just a Girl Who Can't Say No._ A song that particularly amused people who knew Jade..

Intermission came, and with it another flurry of activity from the cast and crew. Bathroom breaks, hydration time, pep talks and costume repair all had to be addressed in the short time available.

In that same time, Sinjin and the tech crew huddled to go over things that had gone wrong, things that had gone right, and plans for Act Two.

Sikowitz, as director, was flitting everywhere, trying to offer advice and encouragement to everyone, while trying to refrain from removing the last of the hairs from his head.

Sinjin: Two minutes to curtain!

With that call from Sinjin everyone finished whatever they had to do and ran to get into position.

The cast could hear the orchestra starting up again and Act Two was underway.

As a rule, the second act of a play or show is usually shorter than the first, and so it was with Oklahoma.

It seemed like the time was just flying by, especially for the tech people who always had something to do, but, everyone performed just as well as they had in the first Act and things were going quite smoothly.

Soon the performance was coming to a close. A major highlight to act two was the spirited duet _All Er_ _Nothin' _featuring Robbie and Jade as Will and Annie which almost brought down the house. It took a few minutes before the crowd had settled enough for the Reprise of _People Will Say We're In Love _featuring Beck and Cat again. When Beck and Cat had finished, the entire company got together for the finale, and the Hollywood Arts production of _Oklahoma! _came to an end, with huge amounts of applause and a long standing ovation for Beck and Cat.

After the curtain had come down for the last time, the cast and crew gathered to greet members of the audience. The line was long as everyone wanted a chance to see their favorite performers, or sons and daughters as the case may be. Beck and Cat were mobbed of course, being the leads, but no matter how many people came to congratulate her, Cat kept looking around for Mona Patterson.

As the line was winding down, a well dressed man carrying a large bouquet made his way forward. Cat's eyes lit up instantly as she recognized him as Mona Patterson's son.

Cat: Thank you so much for coming, is Mona here?

Mona's Son: No Cat, mother suddenly got ill, they think it was a heart attack, but she wanted to make sure that I came and brought you these flowers and she wrote you a note.

My dear friend Cat,

I am so sorry that I will be unable to attend your performance, but this old body of mine seems to be just full of surprises these days. I just wanted to tell you though; how much your visits, meant to me. It is a hard thing, to go from being in the public eye constantly to being a relative unknown but it is a danger that all of us in this business may face. Visiting with you enabled me to relieve a very special time in my life, and if I have accomplished anything I can only hope that it was to help you in preparation for your role, this evening. You remind me so much of myself when I was your age and my hope for you is that you have the career that I had, plus the love and companionship of good friends and family. No matter what you do or where you are, you should know that I will be with you in spirit if not in reality. Here's hoping that tonight is only the beginning of great things for you.

Your Friend,

Mona

Cat began tearing up but she was able to compose herself for a moment.

Cat: Thank you so much, and please tell Mona that I will be back to see her this weekend and to tell her all about tonight's show.

Mona's son looked at cat sadly for a moment and she could tell that he was trying to speak.

Cat: What?

Mona's Son: Cat, the hospital called me on my cell phone during act two. I had it on vibrate so as not to disturb the performance, but when the curtain came down I called them back.

He paused again, obviously struggling to continue.

Mona's Son: Cat, mom's heart gave out at the hospital this evening; she passed away. I have to get home now and take care of the arrangements, I am sorry.

Cat was stunned, and could only watch in silence as he walked away. Suddenly the realization of what he had said sunk in and she ran from the room.

Beck was standing next to her before she ran and saw her drop the flowers and the note. Tori and Jade also noticed and ran over to Beck.

Jade: What happened to Cat?

Beck: I don't know, she was talking to the man who gave her these flowers and note and he left and then she ran out.

Tori picked up the note and saw the signature, _Mona_. and a feeling of dread came over her.

Beck: What is it?

Tori: It's a note from Mona Patterson. Cat was expecting her to come tonight to see the performance, something must have gone wrong.

The three of them ran out and began searching for their little friend. None of them had a very good feeling about what they would find.

Sikowitz' classroom was the last stop for the search and the three gathered at the door, almost afraid to open it.

Jade was the first to enter, the room was dark but she was able to make out a figure apparently hunched over sitting at a desk. She knew who the figure was.

Tori, Jade and Beck, gathered around their friend, who was weeping uncontrollably. Jade began to tenderly stroke her friend's hair.

Jade: Cat, please can you talk about it? What happened?

Cat struggled for a few minutes; she composed herself enough to look up at Jade and said: Mona couldn't come, she had a heart attack and was in the hospital, but she wrote that note and sent her son with flowers.

Tori: But she wrote the note and sent flowers, so is she going to be ok?

Cat: Shook her head: The hospital called during act two.

Tori Beck and Jade were stunned. Jade immediately hugged Cat, Tori took over stroking Cat's hair and Beck sat with his head down holding Cat's flowers and Mona's note.

The four friends sat, trying to comfort each other. As they sat, the moon came out from behind a cloud and a beam of light shone through the window bathing the four in its pale light.

Cat looked up through her tears: Look, she said it's a sign. Her three friends smiled kindly at her, not really believing in signs, but willing to accept anything that made their friend feel a little better. That is, until Beck took another look at the note in his hand. Mona had obviously written the note with a sharpie, and a combination of perspiration and tears had obliterated most of the note, but the words that still could be read startled Beck.

Beck: Cat, look at this.

Cat took the note from his hand and read the remaining words that were visible on the page.

…my hope is that you have the career that I had, plus the love and companionship of good friends and family. No matter what you do or where you are, you should know that I will be with you in spirit if not in reality. Here's hoping that tonight is only the beginning of great things for you.

Your Friend,

Mona

AUTHOR'S NOTE: FIRST THE USUAL, I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH _VICTORIOUS_, OTHER THAN BEING A FAN. SECOND, ON THE SHOW THE ROLE OF MONA PATTERSON WAS PLAYED BY SHIRLEY JONES, A GIFTED ACTRESS WHO'S BODY OF WORK IS LONGER THAT THE PAGES OF THIS STORY. SHE DID, IN FACT, STAR IN THE MOVIE OKLAHOMA! AND SANG ON THE ORIGINAL CAST ALBUM. THIRD, ALL REFERENCES TO OKLAHOMA! ARE FROM THE SHOW, WHICH WAS A PRODUCT OF ROGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN'S FERTILE IMAGINATION, SOMETHING ELSE I HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH. LASTLY, ALTHOUGH MONA PATTERSON DIED IN THIS STORY, SHIRLEY JONES IS ALIVE AND WELL AND STILL PERFORMING.


End file.
